Inside Out

Driving on thin ice

Having to drive in bad weather is a nightmare for most motorists during the winter months.

Ice is perhaps the biggest hazard, so what can be done to make motorists better equipped to deal with icy conditions?

Inside Out took BBC Look North weatherman Paul Hudson for a spin with a driving lesson on in skid control with DriverSkills Instructor Lionel Firn.

Skid row

Sergeant Tim Craven of North Yorkshire Police sees the results of icy road conditions in the course of his job.

When the temperatures drop, fair weather motorists frequently get caught out by natural hazards such as ice and freezing fog.

Tim Craven says that many motorists fail to head the warnings.

Accidents like this often happen in icy weather

All over Yorkshire hundreds of motorists run up thousands of pounds worth of damage on icy country lanes and roadside pile-ups.

The county is trying to cut the toll winter takes on its roads.

There's no easy solution to the problem.

But driverskills.com based on Elvington airfield near York is offering special courses where you can lose control without the risk of hitting anything.

We took weatherman Paul Hudson along to try driving on the largest skid pan in Britain.

Skid pan story...

So how did Paul Hudson find the experience?

"After 15 years learning the art of CD changing, cloud spotting and unwrapping a mint… all at the same time as sticking to the speed limit, I'm back at driving school.

Taking it slowly - before building up confidence!

"Perhaps I shouldn't worry, but the last time a BBC presenter tried something new here was when Richard Hammond had his high speed crash on Top Gear!

"It's a slightly scary prospect - driving on a skid pan - even with expert tuition and a trainer to hand.

"But slowly I managed to get the hang of it.

"Driving in ice and snow is very difficult, and certainly our friends from Scandinavia, Germany and other countries that experience icy winter’s are incredulous at how a dusting of snow tends to cause mayhem.

"The problem is that due to climate change, snow and ice is becoming much less common, and so we forget how to drive in such conditions.

"I certainly took some time learning how to control the car – 20 minutes to be precise!"